Birds on Stamps

It should surprise no one that Birds depicted on stamps is one of the most popular topics amongst thematic stamp collectors. Birds have fascinated humans for thousands of years and it is gratifying that such energy is devoted to their protection around so much of the world. Whilst Switzerland’s 1845 “Basel Dove” may be the first ‘proper’ bird stamp (we shall not count the partial eagle on Geneva’s coat of arms) and almost certainly the most valuable the joy of stamps depicting birds is indeed the image itself and as any good ornithologist will tell you, there is nothing more beautiful than the simplest sparrow (other than perhaps if it’s on a stamp!)